Landscape is loud with dialogues, with story lines that connect a place and its dwellers. The shape and structure of a tree record an evolutionary dialogue between species and envi- ronment: eucalpt leaves that run their edge to bright sun, deciduous leaves that fall off dur- ing seasonal heat or cold. And they record dialogues between a tree and its habitat. Tree rings thick and thin tell the water and food of each growing season of the tree's life. Size, shape, and structure-low-branched or high, densely branched or spare-reflect dia- logues between a tree and a group of trees in open field or dense forest. Each species has a characteristic form from which individuals deviate, as true of human body shape-mus- cled or fat, short or tall-as of trees. A coherence of human vernacular landscapes emerges from dialogues between builders and place, fine-tuned over time. They tell of a congru- ence between snowfall and roof pitch, between seasonal sun angles and roof overhang, wind direction and alignment of hedgerows, cultivation practices and dimensions of fields, family structure and patterns of settlement. Dialogues make up the context of individual, group, and place. The contex? of life is a woven fabric of dialogues, enduring and ephemeral.